Embracing Trouble (Trouble Series) (3 page)

“You can sit beside me, you know. I won’t bite,” he said in a husky voice.

I was unsure of what to do. I felt exposed standing in front of him, his eyes watching my every move. But what if his girlfriend came back? Wasn’t Noah sitting there? Honestly, where had everyone gone?

“So, if moron footballers don’t do it for you, what brings you here tonight?” he asked, rolling the cigarette between his fingers, the smoke travelling up into the night air between us.

“Boredom,” I said, before thinking.

“You must be pretty bored if this type of party alleviates it,” he said, smoothly.

“Why are you here?” I asked, counting to three in my head and then moving over closer to him.

I didn’t sit up on the wall next to him, but leaned against it, putting my bottle between us.

“One of us was…intrigued…by a girl here tonight,” he said looking back out to the party, “and there was the free booze.”

I used the opportunity to look at him properly while he looked out to the party. His facial hair slightly covered his lower cheeks and down under his chin, where it became thicker. There was something beautiful about him that made me take a breath. He wasn’t a pretty boy like the ones at school, and to be fair, he wasn’t even a boy, because he looked at least twenty-one.

I had no idea what I was doing next to this mysterious guy who took my breath away. I looked down at his arm beside me and focused on his tattoos, feeling the sudden want inside me. I had finally discovered the stirrings of lust that I had read about.

I heard giggling nearby and turned at the sound to see Noah kissing a girl sitting on the wall in the darkness, her legs wrapped around him. He was obviously the one who had been intrigued by a girl to come into the party, and he was being further intrigued right at this moment.

His hand slid under her top and she groaned, as I quickly looked away, feeling a little unsettled. My eyes collided with Zac’s and I instantly blushed.

He smirked knowingly as he dragged on his cigarette and then turned away to blow the cigarette smoke out of his mouth and away from me.

I had a sudden urge to fill the silence between us.

“So what do you do?” I asked.

“In relation to what?” he asked huskily.

I fiddled with the label on my bottle wondering if he was deliberately making this harder for me. I heard more groaning coming from the darkness and tried to think of something else to say to block the noise. He looked amused again, seeing my discomfort as his intense dark brown eyes seared into me. I felt myself move a little closer to him.

“Are you two having a deep and meaningful?”

I jumped back from him, feeling somewhat guilty as I looked at the blonde girl who had returned and was watching us with narrowed eyes.

“Go away, Shara,” said Zac.

I wanted to smile at what I thought was a joke, until I saw his serious expression. The girl pouted her lips up at him, and he took another drag of his cigarette, looking unconcerned with her feelings.

Shara glared at me and then back to him, saying, “You’ll be bored within minutes,” she muttered, as she turned away and headed back across the court.

My eyes narrowed as I watched her retreating into the darkness. I folded my arms and stood away from the brick wall, more hurt than I cared to realize.

“I’ll leave. I don’t want to come between you and your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he replied.

“She might think differently about that,” I returned.

He flicked his cigarette onto the grass next to the court, and snapped, “Not my concern.”

Alarm bells went off somewhere in my brain, hearing his unsettling honesty. He didn’t care about her and most likely treated all girls the same way. I needed to keep my distance, knowing he was just too dangerous for me. I had to walk away, right now. Hadn’t we all been taught to stay away from trouble?

Soft panting cut into my thoughts, and my ears tuned in to what was happening behind me. I didn’t know whether to be excited or disgusted.

So I covered it with humor, and muttered, “She doesn’t sound boring.”

Zac eyed me thoughtfully.

“Just ignore Shara. She doesn’t know what planet she’s on half the time.”

I slowly nodded my head, still feeling hurt from Shara’s words, because there was a part of me that probably believed her. He would be bored, because unlike the girl behind me, I had no idea of what I was doing. I looked down at my feet, hoping that he didn’t expect to end up doing something with me like Noah was doing. Was that why everyone had disappeared?

I suddenly thought of Sophie and remembered that she had been quite drunk. I also had to get away from this situation, because I had no idea of how to handle it.

“I need to go find Sophie,” I said next.

He stood up from the low wall in silence, and I looked up at him in awe, realizing he was at least six feet tall. I swallowed as I took in the definition of his muscled body under his T-shirt. He was gorgeous and so
not
in my league.

“Nice meeting you, Ava,” he murmured, putting his hands in his pockets.

I didn’t miss the tattoo on his hand between his thumb and finger before it disappeared into his pocket.

“You, too,” I mumbled, my mind elsewhere, wondering about the rest of his body and the perfectly placed tattoos that I just knew he would have, all of them telling a story.

He stepped closer to me, and my heart raced so much that it was just one long fluttering sound. His hands stayed in his pockets as he looked at my lips for a moment, almost like he was concentrating on them. Hard.

“Best you go and find your friend,” he said coolly, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before he stepped back. “And stay away from Antony.”

I swallowed down a lump of lust and regret, wanting him to kiss me. Was I that boring? Was I reading the wrong signals?

“Why?” I asked.

“Just trust me,” he said with one last searing look before he disappeared back to the party.

My shoulders dropped in disappointment. He obviously couldn’t get away fast enough, because I had bored him that much. Awesome. Feeling like an idiot, I headed back over to the party to find Sophie. I found her near the pool, looking very drunk and dancing with Antony, her arms locked around his neck.

Did she really want to do this tonight? I went over closer to them, trying to get her attention, but she was too involved as they started to kiss. I stopped in my tracks, knowing I couldn’t interrupt them now. I turned back around and came face to face with Shara.

“You should stay away,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re too good for him.”

My eyes narrowed, wondering if I had heard her right. What did that even mean? She handed me a shot glass with a wink and then tapped her glass against mine.

“Cheers!”

I watched her gulp hers back, and then I did the same, cringing at the taste. She cheered and then disappeared back into the dancing crowd.

“Ava!” giggled Sophie, calling me over.

I sauntered up to them as Antony went to put his arm around me and hug us both. I cringed and tried to disentangle myself.

“I’m going to head home,” I muttered. “Are you coming or staying?”

“Stay a bit longer,” she pleaded with a giggle. “Puhleese.”

“Have another drink, Ava,” Antony said with a grin on his face.

I ignored him as Sophie mouthed for me to stay and wait for her. I agreed and turned away as they started to kiss again. Now I had to kill time while Sophie had her fun.

I spotted the big blond guy talking to a girl nearby and scanned the party to see if Zac was still around. I walked away from Sophie and headed over to a less crowded part of the garden and checked my phone. Sophie had put a photo of us on Facebook from earlier in the night and I liked it. I let out a yawn and suddenly felt tired, like bone weary tired. I looked back over at the party feeling like my eyes were working slower than usual. My eyelids felt heavy and the garden started to spin. Surely I wasn’t having a delayed reaction to the alcohol. I carefully walked further away from the main party looking for anywhere to sit down. I was feeling really weird. What the hell was going on with me?

I felt like I was outside of my own body and not in control, which made me panic. I had never felt like this before, and I suddenly wondered why everything was happening in slow motion. People spun around me, and I stopped walking, trying to get my balance. My eyes wouldn’t work properly as they slowly tried to focus on something. I felt fuzzy. The music suddenly sounded very far away and my heart thudded very slowly in my chest. I felt my knees hit the ground, and then there was blackness.

Zac

I left Antony’s place and headed back down Noah’s driveway with a deep scowl. I couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful innocent girl I had met and how I had to hold myself back from kissing her like my life depended on it.

She was too innocent for the likes of me, and I had to stay away, even though she was the first girl in a very long time to make me feel…different. I didn’t want to leave her at the party, especially around the morons she went to school with, but I had no other choice. I was more dangerous than all of them. So, it was probably best that she stayed with them.

I didn’t want to think of how I felt when I first set eyes on her. It was like I had been hit with a lightning bolt. I didn’t want to think of the sweet scent of strawberries on her skin and hair, like she had just freshly showered before coming out tonight. I didn’t want to think of those innocent lips that looked like they had been created for sin. I shook my head in annoyance. I was losing my fucking mind.

“So, are we going to fuck now?”

I turned around and saw that Shara had followed me out of the party. She was always an easy lay, when I couldn’t be bothered to try for anyone else. She was a means to an end, to make me forget everything for a couple of minutes and lose myself.

I looked at her reddened eyes and suddenly thought that I didn’t want to do it with her tonight. She had the wrong eyes, wrong hair, wrong everything.

“Earth to Zac,” she said, laughing and licking her lips.

As I continued to look at her, I questioned if I could think of Ava if I closed my eyes. Fuck, I’m an asshole. My phone buzzed with Noah’s ringtone.

“Yeah?”

“She’s passed out, Zac. I think she’s taken something,” he rushed.

I looked to Shara.

“Who?”

“Ava! She’s out of it on the grass.”

“Fuck,” I muttered angrily.

I quickly ran back up the driveway and over to the party again. If one of those fucktards had given her something, I would kill them. I saw Noah and Will crouching next to her body on the ground and a crazy anger riled up inside me as I ran over.

“She’s still conscious,” Will said to me as I crouched down next to her.

“I’ll kill the fuckers who messed with her,” I growled.

“She may have taken it herself,” Noah announced belligerently.

“Look at her! Do you honestly think she would?” said Will.

“Let’s get her away from the party,” I said, lifting her up from the grass and into my arms.

Her head lolled back, and I couldn’t help but look at the long expanse of her perfect skin along her neck and chest. I carried her out of the party and over to Noah’s place.

“Who was she with when I left?”

“No one,” said Will. “She talked to her friend and then was checking her phone the last time I saw her.”

“Oh, no! What happened?” asked Shara with mock surprise as she reached Noah’s place.

I went inside the unit and then stopped and gritted my teeth, glaring at Shara.

“Did you fucking do this, Shara?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said shiftily, not meeting my eyes.

“What did you give her?” I growled.

“Just some GHB.”

“For fuck’s sake! Why would you do that, you moron?” I spat angrily.

“Screw you, Zac. She’ll be awake in an hour.”

“Get the fuck out!” I screamed as I put Ava gently down on the couch.

Chapter Two: You’re Safe Here

Ava

I was awake, but I couldn’t open my eyes or move my head, arms or legs at first. I heard everything but couldn’t quite put it all together. I felt numb and lifeless.

I eventually opened my eyes and slowly focused on my surroundings. I was lying down somewhere and my head hurt.

“She’s awake.”

I slowly turned to see Zac’s face in front of me, and I instantly felt pleased that I was seeing him again. I didn’t miss the worry on his face before he hid it with a scowl.

“Ava?”

“What happened?” I murmured thickly.

“You were drugged.”

“You drugged me?” I asked, trying to move my legs. “I need to get up.”

He looked annoyed and said, “No, someone else did.”

“Where am I?”

“My place,” said Noah, coming into my line of sight.

Panic swirled around inside me as I gasped and tried to sit up. What were they doing with me? I could be trapped here! I was on a couch and scrambled to sit up, looking around the room, feeling utterly dizzy.

“Where’s Sophie?” I demanded.

“Still at the party,” said Noah.

“I want to go back there,” I cried, trying to scramble off the couch. “I don’t want to be here.”

My legs soon gave out and I fell between the couch and the coffee table.

“Ava, stop! You’re safe here,” demanded Zac as he pulled me up and placed me back on the couch.

I glanced down at his hands still holding me and tried to pull away from him. His hands left my body and my head felt like it was still on the couch as I groaned.

“Chill,” coaxed Noah, coming closer. “Whatever you’re thinking, you’ve got it wrong. Shara drugged you for a joke.”

I sat forward on the couch, my heavy head in my hands.

“With what?” I muttered, remembering the conversation now.

“GHB,” said Zac.

A door burst open and two of the other guys from their group walked in, laughing and drinking beers. I was in a room full of strange guys, and I tried to feel for my phone, but it felt like my limbs were too heavy to move. Fear made me feel sick.